The big challenge ahead is the notorious Doldrum belt, where the trade winds in the northern hemisphere cancel out those to the south, producing a vast area of squalls and calms where boats can stall for days.

The crew's morale bottomed out when the Wave Warrior hit the Doldrums, an area near the equator that is notorious for its calms and its light, shifting winds.

Ask any fisherman what his greatest enemies are and high on the list will come midges, flat calms and leaking waders.

Origin

The origin of calm can be traced back to the idea of the heat of the midday sun in a hot climate, when people are indoors and everything is quiet and still. Calm came into English via Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese from Greek kauma ‘heat of the day’, and was perhaps also influenced by Latin calere ‘to be warm’.